


Numbers Never Lie

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Chenlix, Eating Disorders, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idols, Lee Felix (Stray Kids) is a Sweetheart, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned NCT Dream Ensemble, Mentioned Stray Kids Ensemble, Mother Hen Bang Chan, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le Are Best Friends, Protective Lee Taeyong, Secret Relationship, Sort of? - Freeform, Zhong Chen Le is Whipped, Zhong Chen Le-centric, chenlix nation RISEEEEE, idek, istg im the worst at tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25329808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Chenle sees the comments online.Most of them were praising him, saying he's a child prodigy. a star.He smiled after seeing those.But the new ones?Saying he's a bad dancer.The visual hole of NCT.Saying he's too loud.Chubby.Fat.Those are the ones that affect him.He tries not to get put down,One comment might not change the way you think.What about ten.A hundred?A thousand?
Relationships: Lee Felix (Stray Kids)/Zhong Chen Le, Park Jisung (NCT)/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Kudos: 81





	Numbers Never Lie

**Author's Note:**

> oof my first fic  
> rated teen and up for some swearing ofc  
> kudos and comments appreciated ^o^  
> it's probably terrible but  
> hope you enjoy :D

Chenle sees the comments online.  
Most of them were praising him, saying he's a child prodigy. A star.   
He smiled after seeing those.

But the new ones?  
Saying he's a bad dancer.  
The visual hole of NCT.   
Saying he's too loud.   
Chubby.   
Fat. 

Those are the ones that affect him.   
He tries not to get put down,  
One comment might not change the way you think.  
What about ten.  
A hundred?  
A thousand?

He hears Jisung coming home from a date with Jeongin from Stray Kids, rambling on to Jaemin about his day. Skinny legends, he thinks. Maybe that’s why they found eachother. Why they are boyfriends. Heck, even Chenle’s sister, 2 years younger than him, has a boyfriend. Maybe that’s why he can’t get a boyfriend. He’s too fat.

At the back of his mind, a little voice shouts at him. Telling him that he’s ok. That he’s even a little underweight. He pushes that thought aside with a huff and locks himself in the bathroom. He hesitantly steps on the scale, staring at the number. 50 kg. He packs his gym bag, puts on his mask and walks out of the dorm, heading to SM.

He puts on a playlist of NCT’s discography. Being a big fan of NCT 127, he already knew all of them by heart. Running through the playlist. Once. Twice. Thrice. No stopping, his mind tells him. Not even for a minute to catch his breath. Just a sip of water and he’d have to start dancing again. By the end of the third run-through, he began to feel dizzy. His body begged him to stop, to take a break. But in his brain, he was only concentrating on his dance. _Pain is progress_ , his dance coach used to say. Well, he felt pained. Very. So he definitely was making progress. His routines were interrupted by the familiar ringtone of “ _Cookin’ like a chef, I’m a five star Michelin_.” His favourite song. He smiled as he collapsed down onto the shiny wooden floor of SM’s practise room, breathing hard. He looked at the caller ID. Taeyong was probably wondering where he was by now. He picked up, and as predicted.

_“CHENLE! WHERE ARE YOU? IT’S PAST MIDNIGHT AND THE LAST TIME ANYONE’S SEEN YOU WAS 4 HOURS AGO!”_

Shit.

“I’m…um… practising?”

_“AT THIS TIME?”_

Oops. He may or may not have lost track of the time.

“Chill, hyung, I’ll be back in 15.”

_“I better see you back in 10 or I’m sending out a search party!”_

10 minutes? He could probably make it if he ran.

“Ok hyung, see you then!”

He hung up, packed up his bag and sprinted out. Picking up a bottle of water at seven-eleven, he barely made it out of the store before a wave of sudden wave dizziness struck him. His knees buckled underneath him as he felt everything fade to black.

The light spills into his eyes as they flutter open, not used to the bright light. A boy hovers over me, blushing and looking away as he sits down next to me. He looks around, finding himself laying on an unfamiliar bed, in a dorm unlike his own.

“What happened, Chenle? Are you okay? Is anything hurting? Do you need anyth-”

“Settle down, Felix.” A face a recognise as the leader of Stray Kids. He seems tired, like he got woken up at the buttcrack of dawn. Speaking of time,

“Hyung, I mean, sunbaenim-”

“Call me hyung, its ok. Do you want a glass of water, or anything to eat? You’ve been out for…what, 15 hours?”

“Fifteen?” He’s been asleep for that long?

“Yup. Now do you want anything to drink or eat? You must be starving.”

He can feel his stomach hurting, begging for him to put some sort of food in it. He was about to accept when he remembered. _Numbers never lie_. He was too fat. Passing out for fifteen hours doing nothing didn’t earn him the right to eat yet.

“Um, maybe later.”

“So, Chenle-ah, tell me, what were you doing outside at one a.m, passed out in seven-eleven? If Felix hadn’t been out, well…” The leader’s voice trailed off as he imagined what could’ve happened.

Chenle gulped as he remembered what had happened the night before.

“Well, hyung, you see, I was… I was practising at SM and, well… I just got a bit fatigued?” His voice faltering, coming off as more of a question.

“I know for a fact you guys just had your final stage for your comeback a few days ago, you shouldn’t have anything you need to practise into the wee hours of night.”

“And that reminds me! I should call Taeyong. Look after Chenle, okay, Felix?” Felix gave a nod as the older went outside to make the call.

Felix draped his arm around him, and he flinched.

“O-oh, I’m sorry…” Felix blushed apologizing.

“No, it’s ok!” The younger smiled. Felix smiled back and put his arm back around the younger, a smile gracing his lips.

“So, did you really carry me back here?” Chenle inquired. Hopefully, he won’t bring up the weight issue.

“Yep! Are you proud?” Felix said, relaxing the mood. Chenle giggled and hid his face on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I was probably really heavy…” Felix looked down at him, the reality dawning down on him. After all, he’d had a similar experience before as well.

“You aren’t… you aren’t trying to lose weight, are you? Is that why you practised so much?”

Oh no.

Chenle had to come up with an excuse, fast.

“I… um… no? Of course not! Haha, why would I ever do such a thing!” He sputtered out, trying to be convincing. Apparently, Felix wasn’t buying into it.

“Cut the crap, Chenle. You’re basically the weight of my little sister. And she’s thirteen.”

Chenle sighed. There was no way out now.

“Ok fine. I’m trying to lose weight. Why can’t you just leave me alone!” His eyes widened as he realised how rude that sounded.

“I’m so sorry Lix that sounded so rude out loud-” Chenle kept rambling trying to apologise. He suddenly stopped when he felt a pair of lips on his.

“Oh shit I’m so sorry…I just wanted you to stop apologising…” Felix stammered. Was it wrong for him to want to kiss his crush?

“It’s fine.” Chenle giggled, his voice clearly still raspy.

“Do you want me to go get you a glass of water? Or some ramen? You sound like you ate a cactus for dinner...”

“Just water would be fine, thanks Lixie!” He smiled at Felix, who smiles back, silently noting the face Chenle made when he mentioned ramen. Just then, Chan came back into the room.

“Taeyong’s been worried sick about you. He’s coming to pick you up in, say, twenty minutes? Then we can talk about what’s going on with the whole passing-out-in-seven-eleven thing.” Felix came back into the room, holding two glasses of water.

“Well, I gotta go for now, I’ve got a meeting in 15 minutes. You’ll be okay here with Felix?” Chenle nods as the leader puts on his dress shoes and leaves him with Felix. He hands a glass of water to Chenle who nods at him and smiles.

“So are you going to tell me what’s happening, or are you going to wait until Taeyong arrives?” Chenle thinks about his choices. If he tells the two together, he could save some time, but if he tells Felix beforehand, he could help him get through. He decides on the latter and starts.

“I’m trying to lose weight. The comments online…” He sounds unsure as he talks.

“It’s ok, aegi, it’s just me.” Felix comfort him, putting his arm across his back, pulling him closer.

“Jisung, Jaemin, Renjun, Taeyong, everyone… they’re all skinny legends. Including you. And they have boyfriends. Jisung has Jeongin, Jaemin and Renjun hyung have eachother and Taeyong hyung has Jaehyun hyung. No one likes me. Because I’m too fat.” His tears start rolling down his cheeks, and Felix wipes them off ever-so-gently.

“Chenle, baby, you’re not fat. Everyone likes you. Your hyungs in NCT, Stray Kids, your friends back in China, that’s a lot, isn’t it?”

“Really though? Are you sure they’re not, I don’t know, all just pretending?”

Fuck it, Felix thinks. I’m going in.

“Chenle, can I tell you something?” Felix asks nervously. Chenle seems surprised by the sudden question but nods his head.

“I like you, Chenle-ah. Like, not as a friend. More.” Chenle gasps as he lets the confession sink in. He blushes and pecks the rapper’s head.

“I like you too, Lixie!” He says, caught up in the moment. Then reality sinks in.

“But… I’m fat. I weigh too much. No one likes me. No one should. You’re just-” He’s silenced, yet again, by Felix’s lips on his. This time, he kisses back. He can taste Felix’s strawberry chapstick. Guess what his new favourite fruit is!

“No, you’re not. Stop keep telling yourself that. Zhong Chenle, you’re perfect.” The younger giggles again as his face blushes red. Felix shifts himself and moves Chenle so he is sitting on the older’s lap.

“Perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect.” He sings, as he wraps an arm around his waist as he kisses Chenle’s cheeks over and over again. God, does he love those squishy cheeks.

“And now, aegi, I have the honour of asking you,” Chenle giggles again, flushing red at the pet name.

“Can you be my boyfriend?” This time, it’s Chenle that turns his head to the side, giving the other boy a short, sweet kiss.

“Yes.”

They are brought out of their trance when Taeyong raps on the door. Felix goes to answer it and leads Taeyong to the room Chenle is staying in. When Taeyong spots Chenle, sitting there on the couch, he runs to him and puts his arms around him.

“Lele baby I was so worried!” He sobs into his Chenle’s shoulder. Chenle’s heart breaks as he realises how worried his hyung was.

“I’m sorry hyungie. I got a bit carried away when I was practising.”

“Yes, I know. Channie told me about what happened.” He turns to Felix.

“Thank you so much, I don’t know what could’ve happened if you weren’t there.” Felix smiles and whispers a “No problem.” He clears his throat and.

“Ahem. Chenle has something to say to you.” Chenle feels himself panicking, not going unnoticed by either of them. Taeyong was about to go comfort him, to say it’s alright, when Felix sits down and puts his arm around the younger.

“It’s okay aegi, you’re going to have to tell him.” He puts the panicking younger’s hand on his chest.

“Listen to my heartbeat, ‘Mkay? It’s going to be just fine.” Chenle does as he’s told, but puts his head on the dancer’s chest, calmed down by the rhythmic thumping of his heart. Taeyong coos silently at the two “best friends”. And who can blame him? They’re adorable. Felix nods his head towards Taeyong, and Chenle, now sitting on Felix’s lap, begins again.

“I…I was trying to lose weight. People online… They said things. That hurt. They said I was too fat and…” He was close to tears, Felix’s grip around his waist tightening.

“So I started to lose weight. I went to the studio, running through our choreos. My old dance coach used to tell me pain is progress so I didn’t really do much when I got dizzy, and I didn’t stop to take a break. I just kept going.” Taeyong gasped and exclaimed,

“Chenle baby I’m sorry this is all my fault.” Chenle felt his heart break at these words. He hurried out of Felix’s lap and sat down next to Taeyong.

“It isn’t your fault, hyung. You look after 20 members, you can’t keep an eye on all of us twenty four-seven.”

“But I still should have noticed… I feel so terrible. You passed out, aegi. You were out for hours. Manager-nim didn’t let me out because it was so late. I’m so sorry-” Chenle cut him off.

“No need to be sorry, hyung.” Taeyong nodded, took a second to breathe and continued.

“So how much do you weigh now?”

“Ummm… yesterday I was 50kg…” he trailed off, his muscles tensing. Felix grabbed him from next to Taeyong and put him back down on his lap. Chenle visibly relaxed and leaned back onto Felix.

“So, how are we going to fix this? That’s a dangerous weight!”

“This happened to me as well a little while ago. Chris helped by not letting me leave and go somewhere by myself, so I wouldn’t force myself to practise too much or throw up, and to take away all the scales around the dorm, so I wouldn’t be tempted, and to have at least two meals a day. I’m good now, so it obviously worked.” Felix piped up. Taeyong just smiled.

“Those are good ideas, Felix. Thank you. I’m probably going to call Chris later to see what else I should do, but yeah. Don’t try to lose weight again, ok? I like my baby how you are!” Chenle blushed and buried his head into Felix’s shoulder.

“By the way, are you two a thing, or…”

“Yup, we’re together. This definitely isn’t the ideal way to meet the parents, but oh well.” Felix smiled, looking down at his boyfriend.

“But can you not tell anyone else yet? I want to tell them myself when I'm better!” Chenle added, while Taeyong is still gushing over how his baby has grown up.

“Fine... but OHMYGOSH YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE” Taeyong gushed, as the couple blushed.

“You’ll have twenty guys planning your murder if you hurt him though.” Taeyong’s voice suddenly took a serious turn.

“I would never hurt him, hyung, he’s too precious. I really love him, I do.” At this, Chenle looked up at Felix.

“You love me?”

“Of course, aegi. I love you.” Felix smiled down at the younger, kissing his forehead.

“Okay! I love you too!” Chenle said cutely, giving the older a peck on the nose. Taeyong was just smiling at the youngers’ cuteness. Again, wHo cOuLd bLaMe hIm?

“I’m going to have to take Lele away now, everyone is worried sick about you, baby. We were so worried. So, so worried.” Chenle gulped as he gave Taeyong a hug, mumbling apologies.

“Ok then, bye boyfriend!” Felix giggled at his boyfriend’s antics.

“Bye boyfriend! Love you!”

**Author's Note:**

> damn  
> thas the end my d0ods  
> ik ik the ending is legit shit  
> theres probably gonna be a short epilogue, coming out in a few days  
> feedback is appreciated :D


End file.
